Maria Stuarda is a tragic opera by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti with a libretto by Giuseppe Bardari. Based on German author Friedrich Schiller's 1800 play Maria Stuart, which offers a fictional confrontation between Queen Elizabeth I and her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, the story takes place in London during the 16th century. Also centered on the conflict between two queens, Elisabetta, Queen of England and Maria, Queen of Scotland, Maria Stuarda is a tale of jealousy told through the dramatization of continental European history.
